pairwise

Pairwise is an adjective used to describe a relation, comparison, or property that involves two elements at a time. In contrast to notions that concern an entire collection or larger groups, pairwise descriptions focus on all or specific pairs within a set.

In mathematics and logic, pairwise often appears with terms such as pairwise disjoint, pairwise independent, or pairwise equivalence. A collection of sets is pairwise disjoint if the intersection of any two distinct sets is empty. A family of events is pairwise independent if every pair is independent; this does not necessarily imply that all events are mutually independent.

In statistics and probability, pairwise comparisons can refer to hypotheses or tests comparing two options at a time. Pairwise correlation measures the linear relationship between two variables, providing a simple summary of association that does not by itself guarantee broader independence or structure.

In computer science, pairwise testing is a software-testing technique that aims to cover all possible pairs of parameter values, reducing test cases while still exposing many faults. Pairwise distance and pairwise similarity metrics underpin clustering, nearest-neighbor search, and recommendation systems. In learning to rank, pairwise loss functions compare two items to determine their relative order, guiding models to distinguish higher- versus lower-quality items.

In decision making, pairwise comparisons are used to judge preferences between two alternatives, forming the basis of ranking methods such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Across disciplines, the concept of pairwise relationships serves to simplify complex systems by analyzing interactions between two elements at a time. See also: pair (mathematics), pairwise independence, pairwise disjoint.